The Sauce

Stumbled across a post that my beautiful niece, Andrea wrote about trying to make a batch of homemade sauce for a few of her friends.

It made me smile.

I immediately started to answer, telling her that I could help her make perfect sauce each time...like her Grandpa used to make...but then it occurred to me that she most likely had a conversation or two about it with my brother.

Now I swear that all of my brothers and sisters would say the same thing:

'Dad's voice is ringing in our ears as we start the sauce.'

The couple of sentences that I think of each and every time are like mantras:

"Cut the onion up real small."

and

"Don't burn the garlic as it simmers in the pan with the olive oil."

And, of course, the simmering garlic and onion in the good olive oil is the best aroma in the world.

The other big for certain is pork.

"Pork gives it the best flavor," Dad had said.

And then the right tomatoes.

Fresh tomatoes are the best, of course, but that sauce takes a tremendous amount of time. The next best thing comes in a pretty good sized can and I can only find those kinds of tomatoes at one store.

I buy a case monthly.

I thought of John sharing the making of the sauce with Andrea. Same sort of tutorial that goes on all around. Sam has watched me make the sauce a few times. So far none of the kids seem much more interested than heating up chicken patties, but they'll get there.

They will be trying to impress a girl down the line:

"Dad, how do I make...

A few hours after the original post there were a few more answers on the thread.

"The sauce was terrific!" One of the party-goers wrote.

Of course it was.